


Braiding

by CarlottaStudios



Category: Mulan (1998), Quest for Camelot (1998), The Road to El Dorado (2000), Treasure Planet (2002)
Genre: F/M, HAVE ALL THE FLUFFY JAYLEY, I don't have this fully thought out I'll be honest, This was based on a very cute tumblr prompt, also I totally headcanon that kayley and mulan are besties, also because I just realized that there is no jayley here on Ao3, also kayley and miguel as friends just sounds super cute to me, and it's early in Jim and Kayley's budding relationship, and that. needs. to. change, because why not, but I finished it and am posting it now for QuietWeirdo's birthday, but that's a whole different story, for now just have some jayley fluff!, happy birthday QuietWeirdo!, in my head Jim joins Kayley's friend group later in this AU so that's nice, not as thought out as my WIP YouTuber AU, so I started this oneshot for my own reasons, this fanfic takes place in a vague University/Modern AU but that still has solar surfers?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 06:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24240091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CarlottaStudios/pseuds/CarlottaStudios
Summary: Inspired by this Tumblr prompt by promptdumpster: https://promptdumpster.tumblr.com/post/178949842457/is-she-braiding-his-hair-does-she-even-know“Is she…braiding his hair?!”“Uh huh…” Mulan nodded, though she clearly found it as hard to believe as her companion did.“I mean,” Miguel whispered incredulously, “does she even know who he is?”“Funny how you think that would change anything.” Mulan whispered back. “That girl doesn’t know fear.”(AN: A little birthday present for QuietWeirdo! Hope you enjoy this fluffy crossover nonsense! X3)
Relationships: Kayley (Quest for Camelot)/Jim Hawkins
Comments: 4
Kudos: 10





	Braiding

“Is she…braiding his hair?!”

“Uh huh…” Mulan nodded, though she clearly found it as hard to believe as her companion did.

“I mean,” Miguel whispered incredulously, “does she even know who he is?”

“Funny how you think that would change anything.” Mulan whispered back. “That girl doesn’t know fear.”

The two were watching from the safety of a shrub as their friend Kayley, one of the most outgoing and outspoken girls on campus, sat on a bench behind Jim Hawkins, a student famous for his delinquency, solar surfing skills, sharp tongue and reclusiveness. Just seeing him in proximity with friendly, extroverted Kayley was incredible enough, but on top of that, she was braiding his rattail while he lazily read a textbook. So, it was like witnessing a unicorn and the abominable snowman getting into a tap-dance competition.

“But this is Jim!” Miguel exclaimed as loudly as he dared.

Mulan shrugged helplessly.

“I know-”

“JIM!”

“I know!”

“Antisocial extraordinaire!” Miguel went on. “Would sooner break your teeth than let you invade his personal space!”

At that, Mulan had to roll her dark eyes at her friend’s theatrics.

“Okay, Miguel, he’s not that bad.”

The blond, green-eyed drama king looked at Mulan as if to say ‘Are you kidding me?’

“Mulan, have you ever seen him get this physically close to anyone?”

“Well…no…” the raven-haired girl admitted.

“And have you ever seen ANYONE touch his hair?” Miguel added.

Mulan didn’t even bother to ponder this time.

“I haven’t.”

“Exactly.” Miguel affirmed. “So why is he letting her?! Don’t get me wrong, I love Kayley and all, but I just thought Jim would be trying to chase her off! Not let her braid his hair!”

“Maybe he’s just used to her.” Mulan offered.

Miguel frowned at Mulan as if bubbles were coming out of her ears.

“They did work on that big mid-term project together.” Mulan explained. “So, they had to spend a lot of time together. In that time, he’s probably gotten used to her…general Kayley-ness,” she shrugged and smiled sheepishly, “so perhaps he’s grown to tolerate her enough to let her braid his hair?”

Miguel nodded slowly as Mulan talked. He’d heard of feral cats getting used to the presence of a human who let out bowls of food for them until said cat could be tamed and adopted. Maybe it was the same story for Jim? But still. He expected that Jim would put up more of a fuss to being “petted”, if he could continue with the feral cat analogy. He expected Jim to bite and scratch and hiss a lot more before he’d ever let someone like Kayley so near him. And he didn’t mean figuratively either.

“Maybe.” he conceded. “But still, it’s strange.”

Mulan nodded.

“I’m with you there. I’ve never seen Jim so intimate with someone.”

Miguel blinked, then grinned at his companion.

“Mulan, if this is “intimate” for you, then you’re an even bigger innocent than I thought.”

She glared at Miguel as he fought to stifle his snickers.

“Shut up. And get down! They might spot us!”

It was a good thing Mulan ducked and pushed down Miguel when she did. For, just as the two disappeared from sight behind the hedge, Jim got the distinct feeling one gets when they’re being spied on. Or maybe he’d heard Miguel’s muffled wheezing. Either way, he looked up from his book, his eyes scanning the courtyard from the fence to the hedge. There was no one in sight aside from some chatting students at the other end, but they weren’t watching him and Kayley. He frowned nonetheless.

“Do you think we’re being watched?” he asked.

Behind him, Kayley shrugged.

“Not really. But even if we are, who cares?”

Jim whipped his head around to look indignantly at her.

“I do!” he pointed out.

The short braid of smooth, dark brown hair Kayley had been working on slipped out of her hands at his movement and Kayley cried out with some indignation of her own!

“Hey! I wasn’t done!”

Jim blinked. In all his months at the university, no one had really had the courage to talk back to him when he was annoyed. At least, not with the same lack of fear as Kayley.

“Sorry.” he mumbled and, surprised into compliance, turned back to his former position so Kayley could take hold of his hair again. “But anyway, I care if we’re watched.”

“Why?” the girl asked as she continued braiding, then added with a knowing grin: “Afraid it’ll ruin your scary reputation?”

His cheeks flushed and it took a lot of effort to keep from turning to look at her again.

“No! I just don’t want to be stared at! And I don’t have a scary reputation!”

Kayley snickered at how the oh-so-unflappable Jim Hawkins transformed into a flustered, denying mess.

“Of course you do! You’re the big, bad, brooding, angry loner. You’ve actually fought people twice your size and survived! And that scares people. So, scary reputation. Plus,” she finished his braid, taking the elastic he’d given her off of her finger to tie off the rattail, “you give a lot of death glares.”

At this, Jim did turn to look at her, glowering at Kayley with enough fire and venom to send someone to the hospital.

“See! You’re doing one now!” she pointed out amid her barely-stifled giggles.

She seemed so pleased to be right about Jim’s proficiency in threatening expressions, which she’d developed an immunity to over the course of their time spent together. A most inconvenient development for when Jim wanted to appear intimidating. He opened his mouth to try to argue with her, but failed to think of anything. Her laughter was distracting him. It also didn't help that he'd been finding it harder and harder to keep a stern demeanour around her these past weeks. At last, as Kayley cleared her throat to try to make herself calm down, Jim relaxed and rolled his eyes, unable to completely stop the corner of his mouth from quirking up.

“Fine.” he stood up from his seat on the ground. “Just sit down here. It’s your turn.”

Kayley had noticed Jim’s half-smile, but had decided not to tease him about it. She appreciated his good moods too much, especially as they seemed to be getting more frequent the more she hung out with him (at least, so she hoped). She’d been so distracted thinking about that that she was surprised by his words. She blinked up at him.

“You’re going to braid my hair?”

The young man realized he hadn’t even asked her if he could and caught himself.

“I mean-! If that’s okay-” he sighed helplessly. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked before-”

“No, no, I don’t mind!” Kayley beamed.

She hurriedly moved to sit on the ground where Jim had previously been, reaching up to pull out her elastic and hairband. She shook her head a bit as her hair was let down, letting it spread out and fall out of the shape of the ponytail it had been trapped in before.

“I’ve always wanted to have a braid.” she said, replacing her hairband and handing the elastic to Jim.

“Wait! Are you saying no one has braided your hair before?” Jim asked, genuinely disbelieving.

He had been momentarily caught by the sight of Kayley without her elastic. The way it had fanned out across her shoulders, framing her pretty face like lustrous red curtains, had made his face heat up almost as much as her calling him out on his death-glares. Jim had noticed it before, but it dawned on him again that Kayley had great hair. It was long and soft-looking and a rich dark auburn in colour. Who wouldn’t want to play with it and run their fingers through it as they styled it? He was so sure someone must’ve. So, the idea that no one had taken the opportunity before or perhaps been given the chance? Well…He couldn’t help but think those poor, pitiful people had all missed out. Kayley wasn’t aware of this train of thought surrounding her hair, but enough of it rang true in the sheer surprise in Jim’s voice. It made her cheeks pinken and she shrugged.

“Pretty much.”

Jim was almost tempted to make a remark about people being stupid, but thought better of it as he sat down on the bench behind Kayley.

“Well then…” he said as he put her elastic around his wrist. “Why not do it yourself?”

“I tried! But I kept messing up. I can’t exactly see back there.”

She’d been sitting still, patiently waiting for him to begin, but as Jim took a section of her hair in his hand, she looked at him over her shoulder, a bit of worry sudden flashing in her bright eyes.

“Just don’t pull it too hard?” she asked.

She sounded timid, quite unlike the Kayley Jim knew. It surprised him, but he found it endearing.

“I won’t pull. Promise.”

She smiled at his reassurance.

“Thanks.”

Then she turned back to let him have full access to her hair. Jim gently gathered it into sections for a loose dutch braid, marveling as he did. He’d been right: her hair was soft. So soft that it felt like strands of red silk between his fingers. As he worked, all of the tension from before, from thinking someone might be watching them, melted away and a real smile graced his features.

“That okay?” he asked as he wove the braid together, taking care not to tug on Kayley’s scalp.

“Yeah,” she enthused, turning her head a bit to shoot him an encouraging smile, “you’re doing great!”

“Hold still,” Jim playfully scolded as he turned her head back to facing away from him, “or I’ll mess it up.”

She giggled.

“Right! Sorry!”

He smiled, his eyes filling with a tenderness that few ever saw in him.

“I’ll be done soon anyway.”

“Already?! But my hair’s longer than yours.”

“Yeah, but I’m doing it a looser style here.” Jim shrugged as he reached the halfway point in Kayley’s braid. “Plus, I’m used to this.”

“From braiding your own hair?”

Jim bit his lip.

“Pretty much.”

He refused to mention that he’d also braided his mom’s hair for years, especially on special occasions. That was just not something he felt ready to admit to his new friend…not yet. Kayley pouted.

“Oh, shoot. I was just starting to imagine you braiding a bunch of little girls’ hair like some kind of braid train.”

He raised an amused eyebrow at her.

“Aren’t I supposed to be the big, bad, brooding, angry loner with a scary reputation and a shit-ton of death glares?”

“Yes! That’s why it’s fun to imagine that!” Kayley exclaimed.

Jim chuckled.

“Well, sorry to disappoint, but it’s never gonna happen.”

As Kayley let out an “aww” of feigned disappointment, he tied off her braid.

“You’re the exception.” he said, smirking in satisfaction as his handiwork.

“And why me?” she asked, shifting around to face him.

Jim was about to say “Because I tolerate you” or something to that degree, but his voice became suddenly stuck in his throat and the part of his brain reserved for snarky comebacks suddenly stopped working. He felt himself blushing again and his face softened.

“Because you look really nice with a braid.” he said, quietly, as if the words just slipped out of their own accord.

Kayley’s face turned a deep pink. Her challenging expression gave way to surprise, then embarrassment. She turned away to smile bashfully at the ground. One of her delicate hands reached up to touch the soft thick braid Jim had just styled her hair into. Jim also looked way, unable to stamp down his own smile and red cheeks. He’d never been in this kind of situation, with the warmth and the not-knowing-what-to-say-next and the self-consciousness and the steadily-creeping-knowledge-that-you-like-someone-and-you’re-think-they-just-might-like-you-back-what-with-how-much-they’re-blushing-too. But as he felt Kayley’s hand touching his, and as he glanced up to catch Kayley’s gaze before it flicked timidly away, he felt it wasn’t such a bad situation to be in. It was improbable as hell for someone of such a stern and aggressive temperament as him. He’d started to think it might even be impossible that he could be so…so shy in front of someone pretty and friendly and outgoing and talkative and so unlike him in many ways. But there you are! Somehow, it had been made possible.

Though, from their hiding spot beyond the hedge, Miguel and Mulan, staring with their jaws dropped on the ground and their eyes practically leaping out of their sockets, were still struggling to grasp that.


End file.
